Do you know the meaning of this word?

[Missingmybabysomuch]

Just that really, my DD was doing descriptive writing at school about a fire. She wrote about "acrid" smoke and her teacher hadn't heard of the word and had to look it up. My DH hadn't heard of it either. It surprised me as I didn't think it was a particularly unknown word but now I'm doubting myself! So I just wanted a hive mind poll to see whether it's a word generally known or not.

YABU - It isn't a word I've come across before.

YANBU - I know what acrid means.

I opened this thread thinking "fuck, another word I won't know", but acrid? Really? I'd say most people know what acrid means

Are you serious?

Don't you need GCSE maths to be a teacher? Even if you scraped a pass, surely you can teach year 6 maths?

Did you point out her mistake? I would have - albeit discreetly.

I did have to laugh at this one - from a home economics teacher, so not exactly critical in the great scheme of things. Dd absolutely loathed needlework, so I had ended up doing most of the cookery apron they had to make. And though I say it myself, I’m reasonably competent with a needle.

It eventually came back with, ‘C+. Neatness and accuracy are 2 skills which you must practice. (sic).’ 😂

Acrid and Stan Lee, who are they?

YANBU but on the other hand my DP is dyslexic and doesn’t know it; he doesn’t read much for pleasure and it’s a word that is much more commonly used in books than in general conversation over coffee.

So - like a teacher then?

I know a deputy head who took 6 attempts to get scrape grade C Maths GCSE.
In the late 90’s at least absolutely anyone was accepted on to QTS degrees- it was the last resort career.

Very good. Took me a couple of readings in my head to get it.

It's a pretty common word. I'd certainly expect a teacher to know it!!

I'd be rather concerned about a teacher who has never heard of the word acrid!

That’s really odd. It’s a very common word, anyone who reads or watches rhe news couldn’t not know it. It’s not used in conversation so much, but used to describe smoke on the news, in media articles, in books. It’s like saying you don’t know what a lavatory is.

I'm an English graduate and am constantly encountering new words or familiar ones, used in an unfamiliar context.

I'm also an English graduate (who writes for a living) and of course I still discover new words - we all do.

But it seems surprising to me that a word as commonly used as 'acrid' to describe smoke is a new word to someone with a teacher's level of education. It's used all the time in books and news reports; it's not a word that's rarely stumbled upon.

Exactly! 🥛🥛🥛 😂

The teacher probably hadn't heard of the word because she's about 20 😂

Dd's year 2 teacher once had "stalic tights" up on the board as an example in English so now nothing surprises me!

If you read a lot acrid is pretty common, possibly not used much in verbal descriptions, maybe?!

Very common word.

What’s that got to do with it, my kids know the word. As I’d assume my friends kids. It’s a really common word, not one of bygone years,it’s used commonly today, I guess you might not know it if you don’t read, didn’t have a decent education, and didn’t ever watch the news, didn’t read news on line.

every war, wildfire, volcano eruption, house fire, the word is used, it’s literally in every day parkliance, maybe not in general conversation, but it would be odd not to have heard it or know what it means,

Parkliance!😂

Oh give over we are allowed typos..

@GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER
I did have to laugh at this one - from a home economics teacher, so not exactly critical in the great scheme of things

Would you like to explain your reasoning there??

Please tell us more. What was the response? I believe you that the correction happened, but I find it almost impossible to believe this wasn’t a misunderstanding- how could someone teaching A level English not have heard of the word “macabre”?

It's not overly common but I've used it a few times.

I wonder if the teacher always read it as “acid” and only noticed the extra “r” when marking the work? That doesn’t explain how yours not know it from TV or radio news though.

I know but still kind of amusing! No offence intended!

Acrid is a normal word.